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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. J. GHEGAN.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC DANGER ALA-RM. No. 362,739. Patented May 10, 1887.

ATTORNEY WITNESSES: J INVENTOR \jwkdugdbm; John J Ghe garv. /VJM I 5 BYN. PETERS Pmmuma n her, Washinglun, n. c.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. J. GHEGAN.

AUTOMATIG ELECTRIC DANGER ALARM.

Patented May 10, 1887.

HVI/f/VTUR iolin JGlzgaru WITNESSES fif/imby w \aaib ATTORNEY JOHN J.GHEGAN, OF NEVARK, NE\V JERSEY, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALE TO ANDREYVALBRIGHT, OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC ELECTRIC DANGER-ALARM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 362,739, dated May 10,1887,

Application filed Novembrrfil, 1886. Serial No. 119,777. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN J. GHEGAN, a citizen of the United States,residing at New ark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic ElectricDanger- Alarms or XVatchmens Time-Detectors; and I do hereby declarethat the following is afull, clear, and exact description of myinvention,

such as will enable-others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention is especially designed for the protection of express-agentson railway-cars, or watchmen in banks or other places of responsibility,although it may be applied to service as a watchmans time-detector, toindicate whether a watchman, whose duty it is to make a record of hismovements from time to time, has faithfully performed his duties.

The general scheme of my invention is to provide automatic means forsounding an alarm or danger-signal, unless the operation of the saidmeans is interrupted by the action of the watchman or other person to beprotected by my invention.

The sounding of the alarm is designed to indicate either that thewatchman is negligent of his duties or that he is in danger and un- 3oable to prevent the sounding of the signal as it is required of him todo. If, however, the watchman is free from constraint and operates thedevice for preventing the alarmsignal, the absence of such a signal willindicate that there is no danger and that the official concerned isfaithfully performing his trust.

The apparatus in which I have embodied my invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 shows a diagram of thecircuits and a part of the apparatus in detail. Fig. 2 shows amodification of the means for operating the alarm-circuit. Fig. 3 showsin detail switch devices connected up in the alarm-circuit. 5 Fig. 4 isa detail view.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A is a friction wheel or pinion,secured to one of the shafts of the clock-work, preferably the shaft ofthe minute-hand. The wheel A is located behind the clock-case, and thedetails of the clock-work are not shown, it being thought unnecessary toillustrate them. The view shows the parts in the position in which theywould appear ifseen from the front of the case.

In contact with the said friction-wheel, or engaging with it, if it ismade in the form of a pinion, is a wheel or pinion, A. I have shown thewheels A and A in contact with each other and adapted to act upon eachother by friction. For that reason I shall hereinafter call 6c themwheels or friction-wheels, although I desire it to be understood thatthey may be engaging pinions, and may cooperate with each other afterthe manner of ordinary gearwheels.

The wheel A is pivoted to the outer end of the armature B of a magnet,B. The said magnet is in the normallyopcn circuit of a battery, \V,which circuit includes a switchcircuit closer, I, by means of which itmay be 0 closed by hand.

Ordinarily the armature is away from the poles of its magnet and thewheel A is in operative connection with the wheel A. XVhen, however, themagnet B is energized, the wheel 5 A is lifted out of contact orengagement with the wheel A, for a purpose that will be ex plainedhereinafter.

The clock-work is so connected with the shaft of wheel A as to cause itto rotate in the direction of the single arrow. As a consequence thewheel A rotates in the direction indicated by the double arrow andcarries with it an arm, 0, attached thereto. On the arm 0 is secured aninsulated metallic pin, 0, which is connected by a coil of wire with abranch or derived circuit of the battery NV, as shown.

In the path of movement of the arm 0 is located a spring terminal, I),which is nor mally in contact'with a corresponding spring terminal, E.These springs form part of the circuit of a battery, \V, which circuitincludes an electromagnetic bell, O. The circuit V is normally closedand the armature of the bell O is normally on its front stop. In circuit5 with the same bell, O, and with its armature and back stop is a localbattery, L. The rupture of the circuit of battery which I call thealarm-circuit, releases the armature of the magnet O and allows it tofall upon its back stop, thus throwing it under the influence of thebattery L and causing a vibratory move to continue its rotation, arupture will soon ment of the armature in a manner well under stood.

When the pin 0 in its motion comes in contact with the spring D itstendency is to rupture the alarm-circuit between D and E; but thistendency is resisted for a time-by the clasticity of the said spring andby the fact that the spring E follows the spring D for a littledistance. If, however, the pressure is continued long enough and thewheel A allowed take place at the point indicated and the alarm will besounded.

The derived circuit of battery WV, already referred to as including thestop 0, also includes a tap-bell, H, a spring, G, and the hairspring Fof the clock-work, as well as the spring D itself. When, therefore,contact is made between a and D, this derived circuit is completed,assuming of course that the hairspring F is in contact with the springG.

.As a matter of fact, the hair-spring is so ar ranged as to make contactwith the said spring atevery complete pulsation or vibration. The resultwillbe that so long as c and D are in contact there will be successivetaps upon the bell caused by aclosure of the circuit between Fand G atevery pulsation of the hair-spring.

The sounding of the tap-bell H is an indication to a listener that thealarm-circuit is about to be broken unless measures aretaken to preventit. If, now, an operator actuates the switch I and closes the circuit ofthe magnet 13, the armature B will be attracted, the wheel A will belifted out of contact or engagement with the wheel A, and under theinfluence of a spring (not shown) or gravity the wheel A will berestored to its original position and the alarnrcircuit will remainunbroken.

Theswitch I and the tap-bell are both located in the same apartment withthe person to be protected. s soon as he hears a sound of the tap-bellit is his duty at once to connect the switch I and restore theapparatus, as above described.

By regulating the distance to which the wheel A shall fall back at eachrestoration, I can predetermine the intervals at which the watchmanshall be required to operate the switch. In practice I have adetent-lever, S, pivoted upon a suitable post, 3, the said lever beingbent at one end to form a detent, s, in the path of the arm 0. Thisdetent-arm can be swung upon its pivot, so as to bring the deten-t stoany desired point in the rangeof motion of the arm 0. The nearer thisend is adjusted to the spring D the shorter will be the distancetraversed by the arm 0 in its return, and the shorter will be the timerequired to pass into contact again with the said spring. I propose tobend the other end, 8, of the lever S, and let it pass through to thefront of the clock-work and there serve as an indicating-finger, todesignate, in connection with a scale shown in Fig. 4:, the number ofminutes elapsing between any two successive contacts between eV and D.It can of course easily be arranged so that, for example, when thepointer stands at 10, that shall indicate the number of minutes formingthe interval. The

number of-minutes at which the pointer is set will vary with differentkinds of service or in accordance with personal preferences.

If the apparatus is set up i n an express car and the pointer is set at10, no more than ten minutes willever elapse without notice being givenon the alarm-bell O, which is located on the engine or at any othersuitable part of the train, unless the expressagent himself preventssuch a signal from being sounded, in the manner already described. If,therefore, he is under constraint, or is disabled in any way, in a veryfew minutes a danger-signal will be heard by parties interested in hissafety, and measures can be taken to relieve or rescue him.

The clock-work will ordinarily be located, with the bell H and theswitch I, at the point where the watchman is stationed. This, however,is not a matter of necessity.- The clockwork may be located, with thebell O, on the locomotive, or at,any other station where thealarm-signal is received. I

- In Fig. 2 I have illustrated adifferent means for operating the alarmcircuit. In this case the springs D and E are apart and are locatedbetween the battery W and the bell 0, one being connected with one poleof the battery and the other with the other. The arrangement is suchthat the armGwill press the two springs into contact after a short time,and-by short-circuiting the battery will cause the alarm to be soundedas before To avoid the short-circuiting of the battery L, also, I alterthe battery-connections of both batteries by connecting the circuit ofbattery W" through the magnet O with the armature and its front 7 stop,and connecting the circuit of battery L through the magnet with thearmature and its back stop. As soon as the armatureis released by thebreaking of the alarm-circuit, the circuit of battery Lis closed throughthe magnet. If the connections remained the same as those shown in Fig.1, then when the battery W was short-circuited by contact betweensprings D and E a short circuit would also be formed through the saidsprings for the battery L, andthe hell would fail tooperate. If thesprings D and E are separated after being closed, the circuit of batteryIV will be restored to operative connection with the magnet O by reasonof the closing of the said circuit between the front stop and thearmature, due to the vibration of the latter by the battery L. When theclosure at that point takes place the current of battery V will causethe armature to remain attracted and cut out the battery L.

I have thus far, for the sake of clearness, described the part I as asimple switch. In practice I prefer to have a series of push-buttonsarranged, as shown in Fig. 3, in such a manner that one of them isconnected, like the switch I of Fig. 1, with the circuit of battery Wand magnet B, while the others are all con;

IIO

nected on open circuit with the two poles of the battery W" between thesaid battery and the bell O. The push-buttons do not operate in theusual way directly upon contacts, but through the medium ofswitehessimilar to the ordinary switches, which, when once contactismade, need to be restored bysome positive action into place. The buttonconnected with the circuit of battery W operates in the usual way.

The object of this construction is to prevent a robber or other personharboring evil designs from operating the magnet B, and so preventingthe possibility of an alarm being sounded. Such a person, endeavoring torestore the apparatus through the push-buttons, will be liable tooperate one of those connected with the alarm-circuit, and not onlydefeat his own object, but also hasten the sounding of the alarm whichhe desired to obstruct. NVith this arrangement, also, the watchmanhimself, on the approach of danger, can actuate one of the buttonsconnected with the alarm-eircuit and sound the alarm-bell withoutwaiting for the clock to do its work.

It might be supposed that when my device was applied to use as awatchmans time-detector, a watchman might permanently close the switchI, and so prevent all danger of the alarm-signal not being sounded, bylifting the wheel A out of contact or engagement with A, through themedium of the electro-magnet B. To prevent this I use for my battery IVan ordinary Leclanch or other open-circuit battery, which on closedcircuit will run down in a short time. It is obvious that such anattempt on the part of the watchman would be detected as soon as thebattery \V was eX- hausted. The use of this battery furnishes asafeguard against the misuse of my apparatus by the watchman himself,and the arrangement of the series of circuit-closers also renders itextremely improbable that a person not acquainted with the working ofthe apparatus could take advantage of it to secure his ends.

Iprefer to have the alarm-circuit a normallyclosed circuit, so that anyperson tampering with it, as by the cutting of the wires, will bedetected. It will be understood, however, that a normally-open circuitcan be employed, and that the arm 0 in its movement may be made to closethe said circuit. So, also, the push-buttons may be made to act in amanner the reverse of that described above.

Vhile in Fig. l I have represented the apparatus connected with theclockwork as it would appear if viewed from the front of the clock, yetI have for the sake of clearness shown the parts in full lines.Moreover, for the same reason, the posts and the lever S have beenrepresented as located beyond the wheel A, although in fact they arelocated nearer to an observer from the front of the clock than the saidwheel. Other minor variations from the normal appearance and relation ofthe parts it is thought unnecessary 'to mention.

In place of employing a tap-bell, H, in the derived circuit of batteryW, I might use a vibrator bell and put the spring G- into permanentconnection with some metallic part of the clockwork; or the bell magnetmight be connected by a wire with the spring D.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is- 1. The combination,with a circuitcontrolling device and a motor for operating it, of analarm-circuit terminal located in the path of the circuit-controller andadapted to be moved by a continued pressure thereon into or out ofcontact with a corresponding terminal, and independent means forresetting the circuitcontroller, the said means consisting of anelectro-magnet in an electric circuit and a circuit-controller for thesaid circuit, the latter being continuous from the battery through theelectro-niagnet to each terminal of the lastnamed circuit-controller, asset forth.

2. The combination, with a circuit-controh ler and a motor for operatingit, ot'co-operating circuit-changing devices adapted to be moved after apredetermined time by a con.- tinued contact with thecircuit-controller, and independent means, capable of being operated atany time, for resetting the circuit-controller before the contactbecomes effective.

3. The combination, with a circuit-terminal forming part of two electriccircuits, of a moving circuit-controller adapted to operate one circuitby simple contact with the said terminal and the other after apredetermined time by moving the terminal so as to change its relationto a corresponding terminal, as set forth.

4. The combination, with an automatic circuit-controller adapted tochange the condition of an electric circuit at the expiration of apredetermined time, of means for resetting the circuit-closer before theend of that time and an adjustable dctent for limiting the return of thecircuit-closer, as set forth.

5. In a system for the protection of watchmen,the combination,with analarm-circuitand a separate circuit containing a tap-bell, of a springforming a terminal of both circuits, a

.moving circuit-controller in whose path the spring is located, andmeans for resetting the circuit-closer, thetap-bell cireuitbeingsoundedas soon as contact is made between the spring and circuit-controller,but the alarm-circuit being operated only after a continued pressure ofthe circuit controller on the spring, whereby the tap-bell is firstsounded to warn the watchman and he is given an opportunity to reset themechanism before the alarmcircuit is operated, as set forth.

6. The combination, with an alarnrcircuit, a circuit-controlling devicetherefor, a motor for operating the said circuit-controller, and meansfor resetting the latter, of a series of circuit-controllers, similar inappearance, all with the armature and its back stop, as and but one ofwhich are operatively connected for the purpose set forth.

with the alarm-circuit, ,and the other of which In witness whereof Ihave hereunto signed is operatively connected with the resetting demyname in the presence of two subscribing 5 vice, as and for the purposeset forth. witnesses.

'7. In an electric-alarm apparatus, the comt bination, with anelectro-magnet, of two bat- JOHN GHEGAN' teries,-0ne connected throughthe said mag- \Vitnesses: net with the armature and its front stop, andGEORGE H. STOGKBRIDGE, 10 the other connected through the said magnetCHAS. A. SAAL.

